Syracuse University’s School of Education effectively expelled a graduate student from its teaching program after he complained on Facebook about a racially charged comment made in his presence by a community leader that student teachers were coming from Syracuse rather than historically black colleges. Matthew Werenczak was required to undergo a special course of diversity training and counseling for “anger management” just to earn a chance of readmission. Just hours after FIRE took the case public on January 18, 2012, Syracuse readmitted Werenczak but blamed its actions on the standards of its accreditor, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Anthony Callisto, Director of Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety, told student newspaper The Daily Orange that DPS would require students to remove “offensive” Halloween costumes and would report students wearing such costumes to Syracuse’s Office of Judicial Affairs. Callisto said that “If we detect that there’s a person with an offensive costume, we’d likely require them to remove it, and we would file a judicial complaint” (Daily Orange, October 14, 2010). This article appeared three days after Thomas V. Wolfe, Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs, e-mailed the student body encouraging students to “be thoughtful and sensitive when choosing [their] costume[s]” because they put […]

Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) student Len Audaer was told on October 18, 2010, that he was being investigated for harassment for his alleged involvement with the anonymous, satirical blog SUCOLitis about life in law school, which was meant to emulate The Onion. The blog included a disclaimer stating, “No actual news stories appear on the site.” “Independent prosecutor” and SUCOL professor Gregory Germain had threatened Audaer with expulsion, without ever revealing what expression in particular justified the charges or even who was charging him. Just days after FIRE named Syracuse in The Huffington Post as one of the […]

The following are examples of improper use of the Computer System:
…
Harassment: Harassing others by sending annoying, abusive, profane, threatening, defamatory or offensive messages is prohibited. Some examples include: obscene, threatening, or repeated unnecessary messages; sexually, ethnically, racially, or religiously offensive messages; continuing to send messages after a request to stop; and procedures that hinder a computer session.

Sexual harassment is prohibited. It is a form of sexual discrimination. It is unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that relates to the gender or sexual identity of an individual. Even without creating an intimidating or hostile environment for study, work, or social living, unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature is a violation of the University’s Code of Ethical Conduct.

1. Harassment – intentional, unwanted and unwelcome words or conduct directed at a specific person that annoys, alarms, threatens or causes fear for that person. Sexual harassment is a form of sexual discrimination. It is unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that relates to the gender, sex or sexual identity of an individual. It has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating or hostile environment. Sexual harassment includes a full range of coercive and unwelcome behaviors, such as unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual or physical conduct of a sexual nature, including rape and other forms of sexual assault, sexual coercion and non-contact sexual abuse such as voyeurism and sexual exploitation.

Harassment, whether physical, verbal or electronic, oral, written or video, which is beyond the bounds of protected free speech, directed at a specific individual(s), easily construed as “fighting words,” or likely to cause an immediate breach of the peace.

Conduct which threatens the mental health, physical health, or safety of any person or persons including, but not limited to hazing, drug or alcohol abuse, bullying or other forms of destructive behavior.

Syracuse University defines sexual harassment as unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that relates to the gender or sexual identity of an individual and that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, offensive or hostile environment for study, work, or social living.

Saying that all ______ [people of a certain group or identity] are _____ [stereotyping]

Using a racial, ethnic, or other slur to identify someone

Making a joke about someone being deaf or hard of hearing, or blind, etc.

Imitating someone with any kind of disability, or imitating someone’s cultural norm or practice

Making comments on social media about someone’s disability, ethnicity, race, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, or political affiliations/beliefs

Writing on a white board about someone’s disability, ethnicity, national origin, race, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, or political affiliations/beliefs

Displaying a sign that is color-coded pink for girls and blue for boys

Telling someone that they have to wear pants because they are man and a skirt because they are female [or other specific limitations and expectations]

Drawing faith symbols on someone’s door not from the same belief, or drawing or writing over someone’s faith symbols

Taking down someone else’s holiday decoration because you do not believe in that faith

Drawing or creating pictures that imitate, stereotype, or belittle/ridicule someone because of their gender, gender expression, race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, faith, or political affiliation

…

Bias-related incidents are defined as behavior which constitutes an expression of hostility against the person or property of another because of the targeted person’s age, creed, disability, ethnic or national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, political or social affiliation, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Even when offenders are not aware of bias or intend to offend, bias may be revealed which is worthy of a response and can serve as an opportunity for education.

By Julie McMahon at Syracuse.com Syracuse University is considering a policy that bans harassing or discriminatory speech on campus, while also weighing the need to protect individuals’ free speech… Read more here.

By Tyler Arnold at Campus Reform Syracuse University, a school criticized for having one of the most aggressive policies against free speech on campus, is seeking public comment on proposed revisions to these policies… Read more here.

By Kelly McDonald at The Daily Caller These popular schools all have one thing in common: they use vaguely-worded policies to prevent the free exchange of ideas, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Below are ten colleges and universities that FIRE has designated “red light” schools. “A red light university has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech,” FIRE explains… Read more here.

By Bob Unruh at WorldNetDaily The federal government has ruled that in order to meet its demands under Title IX, the law regulating equal access to educational opportunities at colleges and universities, the schools must violate the First Amendment, an activist organization has charged… Read more here.

By Ashe Schow at Washington Examiner Being a music teacher and being insufficiently aware of every trend in music around the world is now a microaggression. At least according to one particularly special snowflake at Syracuse University. During a “listening session” at Syracuse that allowed students essentially to vent about what they perceived as racial and social injustice at the university, one student stood up to describe her tale of woe. David Rubin, former dean of the university’s School of Public Communications, was there to document the tale. “One student said a music faculty member was unaware of the latest […]

By Christopher White at The College Fix Syracuse University students acting like jerks online – or just arguing heatedly – could be punished under school policy. That’s because the school’s Computer and Electronic Communications Policy defines harassment as sending “annoying” or “offensive” messages to others. The Student Association wants to clamp down on such vague and unenforceable terms. It passed a resolution earlier this month asking the school to make the harassment language more specific and concrete, according to The Daily Orange. The request to revamp comes on the heels of a similar brouhaha over the Internet use policy at Northern Illinois University. […]

Despite being warned last year by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a New York university still has done nothing to remedy their unconstitutional speech policies. Syracuse University was named by F.I.R.E. as September’s Speech Code of the Month. Their policy prohibits students from using school computers to send "sexually, ethnically, racially, or religiously offensive messages." Robert Shibley of F.I.R.E. explains why that’s a problem. He says Syracuse has been a perennial offender of free speech even though it promises students "freedom of discussion." "While all of those things sound unpleasant, the problem is what is offensive to one person […]

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has named Syracuse University its monthly "speech code" college of the month for September 2013.FIRE defines a "speech code" as any university regulation or policy that prohibits expression that would be protected by the First Amendment in society at large. FIRE has developed a system that uses ‘red,’ ‘yellow,’ and ‘green’ identifiers to rate how well policies at colleges and universities comport with the First Amendment. Syracuse University earned FIRE’s ‘red’ designation, its most restrictive speech code category.The Syracuse policy that FIRE criticizes is the university’s computing and electronic communications policy .The policy prohibits using the […]

by Allie Grasgreen Inside Higher Ed In spring of 2007, Valdosta State University student Hayden Barnes was expelled for posing a “clear and present danger” to campus. To protest an expensive and environmentally unfriendly parking garage, Barnes had created a collage illustrating potential dangers the garage might cause (smog, environmental destruction, etc.) and posted it on Facebook, calling the project the “[Valdosta State President Ronald] Zaccari Memorial Parking Garage. The “memorial” bit referred to Zaccari’s calling the garage part of his legacy, but the president, who had been assured Barnes was harmless, claimed to take it as an “indirect” threat […]

There’s no place in the world where speech is freer than the United States of America. It’s a vital part of the attraction our land has always had for those around the world who find themselves marginalized, persecuted, or worse because of what they say or what they believe. Unfortunately, our college campuses are an exception to our exceptional freedom — and for those of us who care about freedom in academia, 2012 was another tough year. First, some good news: the latest numbers, just released by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE, where I work), show that when […]

by Robert Shibley The Daily Caller I’m not a big believer in the “war on Christmas” rhetoric that we often hear around this time of year. In a religiously diverse and pluralistic society like ours, politicians, corporations, and other institutions are naturally going to adjust the way they express themselves in order to avoid offending their constituents or customers. But every so often in my work at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), I see an example of seasonal political correctness so ridiculous that it makes me want to put my head down on my desk. Such is the […]

Although only 12 are listed on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education‘s (FIRE) list of “Worst Colleges for Free Speech in 2012,” the organization asserts that the roll could be much longer. FIRE vice president Robert Shibley says the list includes institutions that severely violate the speech rights of students, faculty members — and sometimes both. “Our number-one was the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, where they limit demonstrations, pickets and rallies to only one-tenth of one percent of their campus — and you have to reserve that ten days in advance,” he details. That is a small portion of the […]

Last week, the Foundation For Individual Rights in Education released its second-annual “Worst Colleges for Free Speech” list. The Philadelphia-based nonprofit named 12 U.S. colleges and universities that, in its view, continue to impose limits on student speech — even after intense pressure from FIRE and others. FIRE president Greg Lukianoff released the list on his Huffington Post blog. Topping the dozen was the University of Cincinnati, due to a pending civil rights lawsuit filed against them by Young Americans for Liberty, a Ron Paul-inspired activist group. In February, the officially sanctioned student organization was limited to a small “free […]

Who doesn’t love a good awards show? The gowns, the acceptance speeches, the brutal infringements of civil liberties … the excitement just never ends. Once again, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE, where I work), has sorted through the hundreds of colleges and universities across the nation that severely restrict the First Amendment rights of their students, and is ready to present a “dirty dozen” of colleges that have attacked freedom of speech with such zeal that we cannot help but (dis)honor them. While it was difficult to choose from such a wide talent pool, certain schools took our breath […]

SYRACUSE — For the second year in a row, Syracuse University makes the list of the worst colleges and universities for free speech. SU was called out by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) following the expulsion of a students for posting comments on his Facebook page that the University said was racially insulting. The university later reversed its decision to punish the student. “Before they sign on the dotted line, prospective college students should consider the free speech record of the school they choose to attend,” said FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley. “Don’t believe universities’ paper promises of free speech if they are […]

Syracuse University was named one of the worst colleges in the nation for freedom of speech for the second year in a row, according to a list published by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) on Tuesday. Syracuse was ranked second on the 2012 list after appearing at the top of the 2011 list. Greg Lukianoff, President of FIRE, wrote in The Huffington Post that the list includes repeat offenders that “[refuse] to undo serious punishments of what should be clearly protected speech on campus.” Lukianoff attributed SU’s selection this year to a controversial case involving School of Education graduate student Matt Werenczak. […]

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) — Syracuse University has a less than desirable new title. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education puts SU at number two on its list of schools that are the worst colleges for free speech. They attribute the story of SU grad student Matthew Werenczak, who we first told you about back in January. Werenczak was expelled from SU after making a comment on his Facebook page that SU deemed “offensive and insensitive.” He was then asked to complete anger management counseling and write a paper. He was then reinstated. The University of Cincinnati came in at number one on the […]

College students and activists on Twitter and Facebook this week dubbed Syracuse University a campus “where free speech goes to die” after the school’s second social media controversy since 2010. Syracuse readmitted a graduate student Jan. 19 after a free-speech organization publicized the university’s punishment for posting racially tinged comments on Facebook. Matthew Werenczak, a graduate student in Syracuse’s School of Education, was a student teacher at a local middle school in July when he heard a representative from the Concerned Citizens Action Program (CCAP) say that the school should hire student teachers from historically black colleges, not Syracuse. Werenczak complained on […]

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) — Last summer, a Syracuse University grad student was expelled from the SU School of Education after making a comment SU deemed “unprofessional, offensive and insensitive.” SU grad student Matthew Werenczak was student teaching at Danforth Middle School last year when something was said inside that he didn’t particularly like, so he made his feelings known on Facebook and two months later he was temporarily removed from the program What Werenczak took offense to was a comment made by an African American community activist inside Danforth — “We need to start hiring out teachers from historically black colleges.” […]

A Syracuse University law student is feeling relief now that the school has dropped a harassment probe for his satirical blog posts. Syracuse ended the investigation after the student, Len Audaer, e-mailed apologies to several students who had complained about the SUCOLitis blog, which had used real names and fake quotes, according to the Post-Standard and the Daily Orange. Audaer says he was one of several people who contributed to the blog. Posts covered everything from urinal etiquette to attractive 1Ls to sex with a dead school administrator. “I think the one word that I feel right now is, ‘elated,’ […]

by Abram Brown syracuse.com Syracuse, NY — A controversy over a satirical blog that commented on everything from professors to bathrooms to sex at Syracuse University’s College of Law came to an end Tuesday afternoon. SU, which was named “the No. 1 worst campus for free speech in America” over this issue, by a free speech advocacy group, decided to stop the investigation into the SUCOLitis blog and not to file charges against one of the student authors, according to Kevin Quinn, SU’s vice president of public affairs, in a news release. “We have determined it is in the […]

Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), deals with hundreds of student rights violations every year. In an editorial on Huffington Post, he named Syracuse University the worst school in the nation for freedom of speech. Why? In October, the SU College of Law came under fire over its response to a satirical blog called SUCOLitis. At least one student named in the blog felt it contained harassing statements, and asked the university to investigate. The alleged author, law student Len Audaer, was charged with harassment and issued a gag order. The SUCOLitis site is […]

A Law student at Syracuse University is facing possible expulsion for “harassment,” but he doesn’t know who his accusers are or even why he’s in trouble. The source of all the trouble is a fake news blog called SUCOLitis. It’s like The Onion, but it focuses on making fun of life in law school. In one post, the “Faculty Committee on Aesthetic Standards” names the Class of 2013 “Most Attractive in History.” In another, a beer bong is elected class president. Harassment? Far from it. Very far, under any meaningful definition. Humor, parody and satire are huge parts of our […]

by Thomas Mitchell Las Vegas Review-Journal The textbook at Syracuse University College of Law must be Kafka’s “The Trial.” According to information posted on the website of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, yes, the acronym is FIRE, Syracuse law student Len Audaer has spent two months under the threat of harassment charges, supposedly related to content on a satirical WordPress blog called SUCOLitis, yes, your colitis in Spanish. The rub is: The university refuses to tell him who is his accuser or what he may have written that might constitute harassment. Now, says FIRE, the university is […]

by Marc Parry The Chronicle of Higher Education SUCOLitis aspires to be something like The Onion of law-school life. The Syracuse, N.Y., satirical news blog has attracted thousands of views with fake headlines about beer pong, third-year students serving burritos, and the election of the university’s “sexiest Semite.” It delights in attributing fake quotes to students and faculty, as well as to famous alumni like Vice President Joe Biden, who is quoted as calling SUCOLitis “even funnier than me.” Syracuse University officials aren’t laughing. The law school has threatened “harassment” charges against a student who is allegedly a writer for the anonymous […]

SYRACUSE, NY (wrvo) – A Syracuse University law student accused of harassment says the investigation itself has turned into a punishment with no trial. Len Audaer, a second-year law student at Syracuse University’s College of Law, found out a month ago that the school is investigating him for harassment. Audaer was informed that he could face serious charges of violating the school’s honor code, after complaints from un-named students about an anonymous blog called SUCOLitis. He was asked to meet with the faculty prosecutor assigned to the investigation, Prof. Gregory Germain, who said he could not discuss the case due […]

Four San Diego State students recently logged on to a computer and did what thousands of other college students do these days during their spare time. They were having fun on MySpace.com, posting personal party pictures and commentaries about life in college. Some included references to drinking alcoholic beverages and snide remarks about recent soccer practices, according to a student colleague of the four. But because the four students were athletes – in this case women’s soccer players – they suffered a penalty for it. When they didn’t heed their coach’s warning to stop posting on the site, they were […]

Four Syracuse University students punished for trashing their teacher on Facebook.com joined the growing number of students nationally whose school has held them accountable for what they put on the Internet. “Criticism can be considered a matter of free speech. In this particular situation it was the content, and the content was considered as being reviewable as a possible violation of the university code of student conduct,” said Kevin Morrow, speaking for SU. “The language and the phrasing of these Facebook postings were extreme.” Some students use Facebook.com as their personal diary. They post pictures and information such as their […]

By Suzanne Fields at Townhall.com What do the Bible and the “The Vagina Monologues” have in common? Not much. But surely we can all agree that both are covered by the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of religion and freedom of expression. Well, that’s not so at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. At UWEC you can live in a dorm and watch a performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” but you can’t join a Bible studies group. Any resident assistant, or RA, as the live-in student counselors are called, can put on a performance of the play, and one has, but leading […]

NEW YORK —The student-run television station at Syracuse University was shut down last week because administrators said one show on the station continually violated university policy. Chancellor Nancy Cantor revoked the status of HillTV last Thursday as a recognized student organization in a meeting with the student staff. The revocation has sparked outcry from HillTV alumni. Staffers said they appealed the decision. The controversy has centered on a show called “Over the Hill,” which went on the air less than a year ago, said Steven Kovach, news editor of The Daily Orange, the student newspaper at Syracuse. The show made […]

At Wake Forest University last fall, one of the few events designated as “mandatory” for freshman orientation was attendance at Blue Eyed, a filmed racism awareness workshop in which whites are abused, ridiculed, made to fail, and taught helpless passivity so that they can identify with “a person of color for a day.” In Swarthmore College’s dormitories, in the fall of 1998, first-year students were asked to line up by skin color, from lightest to darkest, and to step forward and talk about how they felt concerning their place in that line. Indeed, at almost all of our campuses, some […]

Lately, Syracuse University has been trying to act in closer accordance with its stated commitment to free speech. In September, the administration stepped in to re-invite Israeli filmmaker Shimon Dotan after he had been disinvited. Most recently, the university assembled a Working Group on Free Speech to make recommendations on how to best revise the university’s policies to better protect students’ free speech rights. Three new policies, consistent with the Working Group’s recommendations, have been proposed and are open for public review and comment through Friday, November 18th. We hope these are signs that Syracuse has seen the error of […]

Syracuse University announced yesterday in a campus-wide email that it will revamp its free speech policies, which currently earn FIRE’s poorest, “red light” rating. While SU Chancellor Kent Syverud ascribed the changes to a summer spent reviewing policy recommendations from a campus coalition, including SU’s Working Group on Free Speech, the move is an undeniably timely one for SU: Just last week, the university found itself embroiled in an academic freedom controversy over the disinvitation—and ultimate reinvitation—of an Israeli filmmaker. The incident demonstrates precisely how a dysfunctional campus culture—which is prevalent on so many campuses today and blooms in the […]

In a guest column yesterday for The Post-Standard’s Syracuse.com, Syracuse University professor and former dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, David Rubin, called for “fewer self-validating listening sessions and more edgy dialogues.” He wrote the opinion piece after attending an SU “listening session” on student concerns about race relations on campus that Rubin wrote ended up being more like an echo chamber: Much of the discussion … addressed personal issues: that the campus was not a “safe space” for them; that they were constantly subjected to “micro-aggressions” by an insensitive white majority; and that the campus was […]

As FIRE President Greg Lukianoff writes in The Huffington Post today, last year was full of thought-provoking popular non-fiction, with one book standing out to him: The Upside of Your Dark Side: Why Being Your Whole Self—Not Just Your “Good” Self—Drives Success and Fulfillment by psychologists Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener. The book focuses on Americans’ “comfort addiction” and the negative effects of always being comfortable. As Greg notes, people’s desire to be exposed only to what is comfortable is behind many recent FIRE cases and related issues. For example, trigger warnings became a hot issue on college campuses in […]

Syracuse University (SU) College of Law student Zachary Greenberg has inspired his peers to take a significant step toward revising an unconstitutional speech code: the university’s overbroad and vague policy on online harassment. SU’s only “red light” policy (that is, one that clearly and substantially restricts constitutionally protected speech) prohibits using the university computer system to send “annoying, abusive, profane, threatening, defamatory or offensive messages,” and it was named FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month for September 2013. Armed with policy analysis from FIRE, Greenberg has introduced a student government resolution that would replace the terms “annoying” and “offensive” with […]

The United States is unique among nations for its liberal approach to free expression—and we’re fortunate to have this approach written into our law through the First Amendment. However, people from other countries often do not share the American ethos of free speech. So the results of a recent study on attitudes towards social media among members of university communities in Australia and New Zealand were lamentable but not surprising.

The Daily Orange reports that in an unfortunate incident, a number of buildings at Syracuse University were vandalized with spray paint on Sunday night. It’s not yet clear who is behind the vandalism. What makes this incident noteworthy for FIRE is the content of one of the vandal’s (or vandals’) messages. Scrawled on the wall of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, immediately below the oversized text of the First Amendment etched into its windows, appear the words: #1 in communication LAST in free speech Indeed, Syracuse has made more than its fair share of free speech blunders in recent years, despite being home […]

FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for September 2013: Syracuse University. Syracuse has just one “red light” speech code on its books, but it’s a doozy. The university’s Computing and Electronic Communications Policy (PDF) prohibits using its computer systems to send “offensive messages,” including “sexually, ethnically, racially, or religiously offensive messages.” This broad policy could apply to virtually any online expression that another person finds offensive, including earnest discussions of politically charged topics like immigration, affirmative action, and gay marriage. As such, it is wholly inconsistent with Syracuse’s commitment to “freedom of discussion” and “the expression of dissent.” […]

"Syracuse University tried to derail my legal career simply because of a blog that satirized life in law school." In 2010, Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) student Len Audaer was summoned to a meeting with Associate Professor of Law Gregory Germain, where he was told he was being investigated for "extremely serious" charges, which included allegations of "harassment." The charges being investigated stemmed from Audaer’s alleged involvement with SUCOLitis, an anonymous, satirical blog about life in law school meant to emulate The Onion. "[The posts] were extremely frivolous in nature and there was nothing malicious about [them]," says Audaer […]

With three FIRE cases in the last three years, Syracuse University has been on FIRE’s list of serial violators of student and faculty free speech rights for some time now. In fact, in 2011 and 2012, the school was featured prominently on our annual Huffington Post “Worst Colleges for Free Speech” list. FIRE’s next few videos will chronicle Syracuse’s abysmal record protecting rights on campus by revisiting two of the school’s most headline-grabbing cases. We start this week with the case of Matthew Werenczak, a School of Education student who was expelled over comments he posted on Facebook: “I was […]

As we wrap up Free Press Week, we take a look today at the unique challenges that college students face when engaging in satire and humor on campus, from humor magazines and editorial cartoons to satirical flyers and blogs. Like newspaper theft and denial of newspaper funding (which we have already explored this week), this is an issue that FIRE has seen time and time again on university campuses over the years. For any number of reasons, parody, jokes, and satire-whether in print or otherwise—tend to rankle students and university administrators alike as few other forms of expression do. Consequently, […]

Syracuse University can be a real puzzler. Renowned for its journalism school and home to the Tully Center for Free Speech, one would think that Syracuse, while private, would be a safe haven for freedom of expression and for the marketplace of ideas. One would be wrong. In fact, Syracuse has become a watchword around FIRE’s office for horrendous abuses of students’ rights to free expression. When we get a case submission from Syracuse, we all think, “oh great, not again.” The cases of Matthew Werenczak (kicked out of the education program for complaining about racism on Facebook) and law […]

by Greg Lukianoff NY Daily News When politicians talk about college, their thrusts are usually about getting more people to attend or helping more families afford it. Now and then, we discuss what students are actually learning. But there’s another profoundly important concern that far too often falls off our radar screen: the frequently poisonous culture of our campuses, which discourages free thought and debate. It is shockingly easy for college students to be punished just for saying the “wrong” thing. As a First Amendment lawyer and the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, […]

Tuesday, The Huffington Post released FIRE’s list of the 12 Worst Colleges for Free Speech in 2012. In addition to the social media storm the story generated, the list caught the attention of a number of media outlets: University of Cincinnati’s appearance at the top of the list garnered the attention of Cincinnati City Beat. In “UC Gets Drawn into Free Speech Battle,” University of Cincinnati spokesman Greg Hand mischaracterizes the school’s “free speech zone” policy, so FIRE responded to his claim here. Syracuse, New York, press Syracuse.com, CNYCentral.com, and WSYR–TV (Channel 9 in Syracuse) have noted Syracuse University’s placement […]

Here’s today’s press release: PHILADELPHIA, March 27, 2012—The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) released its 2012 list of the 12 Worst Colleges for Free Speech in The Huffington Post today. Harvard is new to the list this year, joining Yale, Syracuse, and the University of Cincinnati at the top of the list. “These colleges and universities have deeply violated the principles that are supposed to animate higher education,” said FIRE President Greg Lukianoff. “Sunlight is one of the best disinfectants, and the public needs to know which schools to watch out for.” Although schools appear on the list in no particular […]

Remember Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) “independent prosecutor” Gregory Germain, who complained at a law student meeting last year that “I think there are a lot of people who have a sense of entitlement to free speech”? He’s at it again, this time in Syracuse’s student newspaper, The Daily Orange, and he’s not the only one disdainful of free speech rights. Journalist Debbie Truong’s article, “A blurry line: Following criticism, faculty struggle to distinguish between free speech, harassment,” shows that Syracuse has quite a long way to go just to define basic terms. For example, take harassment in the […]

The editorial board of The Daily Orange, the daily student newspaper at Syracuse University (SU), writes today of the effect that FIRE’s “red light” rating of the university’s speech codes may have on future admissions numbers: If the trend of incidents involving free speech continues at SU, it may have an effect on application numbers. Students will not want to come to a school that has poor free speech rankings because it can make for an uncomfortable learning environment. The incidents at the College of Law and School of Education made headlines and applicants across the country could have heard […]

FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley’s latest piece for The Daily Caller highlights our recent case at Syracuse University’s School of Education, which effectively expelled graduate student Matthew Werenczak from its teaching program after he posted on Facebook about a racially charged comment made in his presence by a community leader. Thankfully, just hours after FIRE took the case public on January 18, Syracuse readmitted Werenczak, but blamed its actions on the standards of its accreditor, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). About this latest blow to free speech at Syracuse, Robert writes: We’ve been hearing about […]

Here is today’s press release: SYRACUSE, N.Y., January 19, 2012—Syracuse University’s School of Education has readmitted a graduate student it had expelled from its teaching program after he complained on Facebook about a racially charged comment made in his presence by a community leader. Syracuse had told Matthew Werenczak that his only chance for reinstatement was to undergo a special course of diversity training and counseling for “anger management”—all because he expressed annoyance over a community leader’s complaint that student teachers were coming from Syracuse rather than historically black colleges. Within hours of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education […]

Today, FIRE announced a free speech victory at Syracuse University, whose School of Education (SOE) expelled a graduate student due to his expression of concern on Facebook over a city leader’s comment about hiring teachers from historically black colleges versus Syracuse University. SOE never filed any charges against the student, Matt Werenczak, and never gave him a disciplinary hearing. But when SOE expelled him, the school gave him two unappealing choices: he could withdraw and never be seen again, or he could undergo anger management counseling and a special cultural sensitivity course and write a paper demonstrating growth “regarding cultural […]

SYRACUSE, N.Y., January 19, 2012—Syracuse University’s School of Education has readmitted a graduate student it had expelled from its teaching program after he complained on Facebook about a racially charged comment made in his presence by a community leader. Syracuse had told Matthew Werenczak that his only chance for reinstatement was to undergo a special course of diversity training and counseling for “anger management”—all because he expressed annoyance over a community leader’s complaint that student teachers were coming from Syracuse rather than historically black colleges. Within hours of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) bringing his case to […]

Things have moved quickly at Syracuse University since FIRE issued its press release yesterday calling out Syracuse’s appalling treatment of graduate student Matthew Werenczak. As we reported, Werenczak was effectively expelled from Syracuse’s School of Education (SOE) after posting a comment on his Facebook page in response to a racially tinged remark made by a local official visiting a school where Werenczak was working as a tutor. When the SOE got wind of this, it removed him from his student teaching assignments and gave him two unappealing choices to avoid expulsion: withdraw immediately from the program, or submit to a […]

Here’s our press release today: SYRACUSE, N.Y., January 18, 2012—Syracuse University’s School of Education has effectively expelled a graduate student from its teaching program after he complained on Facebook about a racially charged comment made in his presence by a community leader. Syracuse told Matthew Werenczak that his only chance for reinstatement was to undergo a special course of diversity training and counseling for “anger management”—all because he expressed annoyance over a community leader’s complaint that student teachers were coming from Syracuse rather than historically black colleges. After completing all requirements but still being denied readmission, Werenczak turned to the […]

SYRACUSE, N.Y., January 18, 2012—Syracuse University’s School of Education has effectively expelled a graduate student from its teaching program after he complained on Facebook about a racially charged comment made in his presence by a community leader. Syracuse told Matthew Werenczak that his only chance for reinstatement was to undergo a special course of diversity training and counseling for “anger management”—all because he expressed annoyance over a community leader’s complaint that student teachers were coming from Syracuse rather than historically black colleges. After completing all requirements but still being denied readmission, Werenczak turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in […]

As colleges and universities across the nation are welcoming back returning students and greeting the new ones, Syracuse University’s (SU’s) student newspaper The Daily Orange rounds up 10 notable events that happened during SU’s 2010-11 academic year. Interestingly, the investigation of Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) student Len Audaer is on the list. Audaer was told on October 18, 2010, that he was being investigated for harassment for his alleged involvement with a blog called SUCOLitis, which was meant to emulate The Onion. The blog included a disclaimer stating, “No actual news stories appear on the site.” Yet “independent […]

FIRE’s Vice President of Programs Adam Kissel will speak at two colleges this week whose recent free speech controversies have drawn FIRE’s scrutiny. Today, Adam will speak at American University (AU) in Washington, D.C. He will discuss AU’s speech codes, as well as a recent incident concerning the AU Student Government’s (AUSG’s) punishment of a student organization that had endorsed AUSG election candidates by revoking the group’s endorsement “privileges.” Then, on Thursday, Adam will address students at Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL). Syracuse earned a spot on FIRE’s “12 Worst Colleges for Free Speech” list in The Huffington Post […]

This has been quite the week for FIRE. No less than 21 articles mentioned our involvement in defending free speech on campus! Greg’s Huffington Post article, “The 12 Worst Colleges for Free Speech,” was noted by numerous news sources across the country. Marshall University garnered the most numerous citations by far. Davin White, writing for the Charleston Gazette (Charleston, W.Va.), quotes Robert’s and Sam’s opinions on the dangers of Marshall’s speech codes, while mentioning the university’s plans to discuss changing the speech codes. Tony Rutherford of Huntingtonnews.net quotes Greg’s explanation of how schools made the “dirty dozen” list, cites Sam’s […]

Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) has dropped its outrageous prosecution of law student Len Audaer more than three months after threatening him with severe punishment for “harassment” over his role in a fake-news parody blog about life in law school. “Independent prosecutor” and SUCOL professor Gregory Germain had threatened Audaer with expulsion over satire posted anonymously on the blog, SUCOLitis, without ever revealing what expression in particular justified the charges or even who was charging him. Audaer came to FIRE for help back in October 2010, after he was summoned to a meeting with SUCOL Associate Professor of Law […]

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Feb. 2, 2011—Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) has dropped its prosecution of law student Len Audaer more than three months after threatening him with severe punishment for “harassment” over his role in a fake-news parody blog about life in law school. “Independent prosecutor” and SUCOL professor Gregory Germain had threatened Audaer with expulsion over satire posted anonymously on the blog, SUCOLitis, without ever revealing what expression in particular justified the charges or even who was charging him. Audaer came to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help. “Sunlight has again proved one of the […]

It Ends February 1, 2011 Today I received a letter from Faculty Prosecutor Professor Gregory Germain via my lawyer Mark Blum. In the letter, Prof. Germain announced that he had decided that it was not in the best interests of the school to proceed with any charges. The SUCOLitis investigation is over, 109 days after it began. I am extremely relieved. Moreover I am indebted to my lawyer Mark Blum, to Adam Kissel and the good people of FIRE, and to my countless supporters and friends. Without them I could never have made it this far. Thank you.

Syracuse University and the Syracuse University College of Law have continued to botch the prosecution of an innocent student, but it looks like Syracuse might finally have a way out now that the student has apologized for having a role in the fake-news blog SUCOLitis. Law student Len Audaer has been under threat of expulsion for months for “harassment” because of the anonymous blog. Robert explained on Friday how Syracuse University Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina cemented his university’s spot on FIRE’s list of the 12 Worst Schools for Free Speech, which we published last week on The Huffington Post. […]

Yesterday, FIRE placed Syracuse as number one on the list of the 12 Worst Schools for Free Speech that we published on The Huffington Post. Fittingly, on that very day Syracuse cemented its spot on the list by releasing a statement about its persecution of law student Len Audaer–a statement so deceptive and dishonest that we are frankly shocked that Syracuse released it. (For those just tuning in, FIRE has posted an extensive Q&A about the case.) You can read the entire text of Syracuse’s statement on its own website, but it is so atrocious that the only way to thoroughly address it is to take […]

School Betrays Promises Made In Negotiations January 28, 2011 In an act of staggering naïvety, Faculty Prosecutor Professor Gregory Germain today asked if I was still willing to take the deal that the school is offering me. That comes despite their utter betrayal yesterday by releasing a substantially more incendiary version than the last one Prof. Germain himself had submitted to us! FIRE’s truly awesome assessment of the university’s statement can be found here. My response, to all parties, was as follows: What I had understood from our discussions was that a public apology and admission of complicity was to […]

FIRE Vice President of Programs Adam Kissel will be featured on Syracuse, New York’s The Big Talker radio show with Gary Nolan on WXTL 105.9 FM at 5 p.m. ET today. Tune in or listen live to hear him discuss why Syracuse landed at the top of our Huffington Post list of the 12 worst schools for free speech and which other schools comprise the “dirty dozen.”

Today, The Huffington Post published FIRE’s list of America’s 12 Worst Schools for Free Speech. An expansion of FIRE’s Red Alert List of the “worst of the worst” schools for student and faculty rights, this “dirty dozen” slideshow includes the schools that come onto FIRE’s radar screen again and again for their repeated and egregious violations of fundamental rights, as well as schools whose policies are so bad that they simply had to be included. For longtime Torch readers, the presence of most of these schools on our list won’t come as a surprise. But we don’t want to give it all away here. Is […]

Last Tuesday, Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) faculty prosecutor Gregory Germain appeared before the SUCOL Law Student Bar Association to explain the latest developments in his absurd prosecution of a student for “harassment” based on the expression on a satirical law school blog called SUCOLitis. His comments reveal an unfortunately unsurprising lack of understanding of, and even disdain for, the principles of free speech on SUCOL’s campus. The most revealing lines of all in the meeting minutes come from Professor Germain, who reportedly said: I think there are a lot of people who have a sense of entitlement to […]

Over the weekend, Syracuse University student newspaper The Daily Orange blasted Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) for prosecuting innocent expression posted on a satirical blog called SUCOLitis, which made fun of life in law school—like SUCOL’s version of The Onion. For more than three months, law student Len Audaer has been under investigation with the threat of expulsion for “harassment” because of the expression on the blog, even though: he has never acknowledged writing any of the blog posts on SUCOLitis; he has never been told which expression on the blog he is being investigated for; he has never […]

Those who wish to censor are often shocked to discover that the harder they try to suppress speech, the more widely known it becomes. This phenomenon is certainly true for the investigation of Len Audaer, the alleged author of the satirical blog SUCOLitis at Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL). Alex Piliouras of Syracuse Basement, another humor blog, explains how SUCOL’s attempts to silence SUCOLitis have given it a much louder voice: For another thing, blogs aren’t exactly pulling in millions of viewers. They’re blogs. It’s the equivalent of vomiting on a keyboard because you’re bored. However, once there’s the […]

A couple of weeks ago, I reported on an e-mail conversation that Gregory Germain, the self-styled “independent prosecutor” in FIRE’s case at Syracuse University College of Law, had with me and with FIRE supporter David Ross. In the case, Germain is prosecuting law student Len Audaer because of satirical expression on an anonymous blog named SUCOLitis, which is like The Onion and satirizes life in law school. Professor Ross and Professor Germain continued their conversation—you can find the latest over at Popehat—but I wanted to point out this gem from Professor Germain: Mr. Ross seems to believe that all terms […]

Yesterday’s New York Post featured an article by FIRE Vice President of Programs Adam Kissel about Syracuse University’s ongoing and unjustifiable war on satire and parody. Syracuse’s College of Law has been investigating student Len Audaer for more than two months over his alleged involvement in the anonymous SUCOLitis satire blog, which aimed to be like The Onion for the law school community. As Adam says in the article, instead of teaching the lessons of American freedom, “Syracuse is teaching the next generation of lawyers that the right not to be offended trumps the rights of free speech and due process.”

FIRE has learned that Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor and Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) Dean Hannah Arterian have been replying to the many messages they have received from supporters of free speech in the case of the wrongful investigation of law student Len Audaer (see FIRE’s case page for details). Their replies essentially say that Syracuse is right and FIRE is wrong (they are long on complaint and short on evidence). Obviously, we disagree. FIRE does not get involved in a case unless we have clear and convincing documentation of a rights violation on campus. The bottom line is that […]

As FIRE supporter David Ross has illustrated, Syracuse University College of Law’s (SUCOL’s) chilling investigation of law student Len Audaer over the publication of an anonymous, satirical website has prompted strong reactions from supporters concerned about the state of free speech at Syracuse. Since we issued our press release, dozens (that we know of) have used our website to write letters to the university, calling for an end to the investigation. Many additional supporters have written to us to convey their shock and outrage. Thank you! Public interest in the case continues to grow, meanwhile, with publications like The Chronicle […]

FIRE’s Peter Bonilla has written an excellent letter to the editor appearing in The Daily Orange about our ongoing case at Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL). We have written extensively about the astonishing case of SUCOL student Len Audaer here on The Torch recently, so I don’t need to do much in the way of introduction. In a nutshell, Audaer has now been under investigation for two months (and counting) for allegations of “harassment” due to the content of an anonymous, satirical blog, SUCOLitis. Though SUCOLitis explicitly states that it is a satirical fake news site, and though the […]

In the “Wired Campus” section of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Marc Parry writes about FIRE’s case at Syracuse University College of Law: SUCOLitis aspires to be something like The Onion of law-school life. The Syracuse, N.Y., satirical news blog has attracted thousands of views with fake headlines about beer pong, third-year students serving burritos, and the election of the university’s “sexiest Semite.” It delights in attributing fake quotes to students and faculty, as well as to famous alumni like Vice President Joe Biden, who is quoted as calling SUCOLitis “even funnier than me.” Syracuse University officials aren’t laughing. The law school has threatened “harassment” charges […]

One of FIRE’s longtime allies, David Ross, keeps a list of people interested in FIRE issues and of administrators who have been involved in some way in a FIRE case. When he gets a press release from FIRE about a violation of someone’s rights, he often copies this list when he writes the university to ask for an explanation. After he wrote Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor about our outrageous case at Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL), he received a response from the faculty prosecutor, SUCOL Professor Gregory Germain. I replied to it, and that’s when Germain started to […]

Yesterday, in a message that we will reveal soon, Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) Professor Gregory Germain (self-described as “the ‘Prosecutor’”) revealed to a large group of e-mail recipients nationwide that he had filed a motion for a gag order on Len Audaer and his attorney Mark Blum in Audaer’s free speech case. We reported the details of the case in a press release yesterday. In short, Audaer was told he was under investigation for “harassment” because of the content of an anonymous, satirical blog about life in law school, named SUCOLitis. The content of the blog, however, comes […]

As you may know by now, Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) is asking the law school’s judicial system to issue a “protective order” (read: gag order) that would severely hamper Len Audaer’s efforts to bring public attention to SUCOL’s ongoing investigation of his protected expression. In documents filed yesterday, faculty “prosecutor” Gregory Germain sheds some additional light on his reasons for seeking the order, namely: The [SUCOL student conduct] Code did not envision a charged student seeking public attention for the proceedings. The Code was designed to protect the privacy rights of charged students, who in normal circumstances would not […]

Today’s press release provides a sad update on FIRE’s case at Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL), which has threatened a student with “harassment” charges for the last two months because of the content of a satirical blog about life in law school. Two months later, the university has refused to tell him what expression in particular justified the charges or even who is charging him. Worse still, the faculty prosecutor, Professor Gregory Germain, is now demanding a gag order on law student Len Audaer, his attorney Mark Blum (SUCOL ’91), and any media outlets that receive information about the […]

Last week, Adam wrote about Syracuse University (SU) encouraging its students to help them crack down on “offensive” Halloween costumes and other “bias incidents” as part of its STOP Bias program. To help students detect “bias incidents,” SU has a webpage that defines bias and provides examples. The definition and examples—which include things like “telling jokes” and “stereotyping” on the basis of “political or social affiliation”—are both laughably broad. The STOP Bias program could silence a large amount of fairly innocuous speech. As FIRE supporter Betsy Speicher comments on our Facebook page: According to the Syracuse University web page “What is bias” […]

National Public Radio affiliate WRVO, in Oswego, NY, published a story Friday on FIRE’s ongoing case at Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL), where law student Len Audaer continues to face possible disciplinary charges for his alleged role with the satirical blog SUCOLitis. Torch readers will remember that Audaer is being investigated for harassment due to the content of the blog, which makes clear that it is a satirical publication that contains no actual news. SUCOL Professor Gregory Germain has been leading the investigation, a fact which would be unexceptional were it not for the numerous statements Germain has made […]

Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) student Len Audaer is still being investigated for “harassment” by his school, which suspects that he authored anonymous posts for the explicitly satirical blog SUCOLitis. (For our previous posts on this issue, click here, here, here, and here.) On October 25, 2010, FIRE sent a letter to Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor, urging her to drop the investigation of Audaer. We reminded her that Syracuse is legally and morally required to uphold the free speech promises that Syracuse makes to its students and that the expression on the blog does not come close to meeting the […]

Today in Pajamas Media, Robert criticizes Syracuse University College of Law’s (SUCOL’s) investigation of the satirical blog SUCOLitis and one of its alleged authors. These lines about sum it up: Nobody forced Syracuse to build a giant building with the First Amendment emblazoned on the side. Having done so, however, one would think that the university would at least have the shame to try to live up to it. And: Unfortunately, Syracuse’s recent assault on the free speech of its students has shown that this private university’s voluntary commitment to the principles of the First Amendment may be nothing more […]

Public interest continues to heighten over the Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) investigation of SUCOL student Len Audaer, an alleged author behind the anonymous satirical blog SUCOLitis. Audaer, as we reported here earlier, is currently being investigated for “harassment” on the basis of the blog’s content—though he remains unaware of the identity of whomever has brought the complaint. SUCOLitis is now private and requires a password for access, but there is no indication from Syracuse that it will stop the investigation. FIRE has transitioned from concerned onlooker to active participant in this worrying case, as The Daily Orange reports […]

Popular legal blog Above the Law comments this afternoon on the controversy sparked by a satirical student blog at Syracuse University College of Law, a contretemps Peter discussed here on The Torch earlier today. Above the Law‘s analysis of the situation is a must read, and I can’t help but share some of author Elie Mystal’s observations here. For example, Mystal’s initial reaction is one that I’m willing to bet will resonate with most FIRE supporters: “I’m telling you guys, this country is going to hell, one ridiculous overreaction at a time.” And check out Mystal’s reaction to Professor Gregory […]

At the Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL), student Len Audaer is being investigated—by both the law school and Syracuse University’s judicial affairs office—for allegedly being one of the writers of a satirical blog called SUCOLitis, which lampoons the people and affairs of the law school. According to student paper The Daily Orange in an article published yesterday: SUCOLitis, a WordPress blog, began publishing online at the beginning of October. A group of second- and third-year law students write on the website with the goal of entertaining those in SU’s College of Law, according to the blog. But some officials and […]

Syracuse University’s alternative monthly publication Jerk Magazine was at the center of a campus debate about freedom of the press this week after it was told by administrators from the school’s Dining Services department that no publication except the official Daily Orange student newspaper was allowed in the dining halls. When the students asked why, they were informed that it was a “longstanding policy.” However, when they made further inquires, they were told that the mysterious policy was in fact unwritten. FIRE is understandably uncomfortable with “unwritten” policies that ban student publications from parts of campus. So is The Daily Orange itself, which ran […]

Looking back on FIRE’s work last year, several trends stand out: the disturbing rise of student-led censorship, the increased public awareness of the importance of the right of private conscience, the continued pervasiveness of speech codes and the often willful misinterpretation of “harassment” to squelch speech. One trend, however, strikes me as being truly unique to 2006: the rise of censorship cases and other administrative abuses involving social networking websites like Facebook.com. In 2006, FIRE witnessed a dramatic increase in case submissions involving social networking websites like Facebook.com and Myspace.com. In February, we exposed an incident at the University of Central […]

Emmett Hogan is a student at University of Michigan Law School and a luminary early FIRE employee. As we looked back on 2006 in campus rights and abuses I wanted to check in with him for his thoughts on the past year in FIRE history. This was his thoughtful response: One of FIRE’s most gripping cases from 2006 involved a breathtaking exercise in thought reform by Michigan State University. FIRE publicly challenged what MSU calls a “Student Accountability in Community Seminar” (SAC) which is intended to address student behavior that administrators consider unacceptable; the seminar is successful only when it […]

For those of you who didn’t get to see me on MSNBC this weekend, it was a fun time, and a chance to talk about the striking rise we have noticed in students getting into trouble for their speech on sites like MySpace.com or Facebook.com. As loyal Torch readers know, FIRE recently successfully aided a student at University of Central Florida (UCF) who was brought up on harassment charges for calling a student government candidate a “jerk and a fool.” Meanwhile, at Syracuse University, students who created a Facebook group to make fun of a teaching assistant were expelled from […]

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has concluded that Syracuse University isn’t doing enough to protect free speech. While some faculty members and students also said they feel SU does not do enough to protect their First Amendment rights, others think F.I.R.E., a nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia, is off-base. F.I.R.E. analyzes policies at universities across the country and evaluates them using its Speech Code Rating System. Each university gets a picture of a red, yellow or green traffic light next to its name on Spotlight, F.I.R.E.’s university database. Red lights connote the most severe free speech violations, and […]